St. Louis Blues Goalie Prospect Ville Husso Beginning to Thrive in ECHL

Blues goalie prospect Ville Husso seems to be figuring things out after a rough start to his first season in North America.

While he’s currently fifth on the St. Louis Blues’ organizational goalie depth chart, 21-year-old netminder Ville Husso is seen by some prospect watchers as the Blues’ goalie of the future. The 6-foot-2, 205-pounder didn’t start his first season in North America on an exceptionally strong note, but lately it appears as if Husso may be figuring things out.

As Husso’s current club, the Missouri Mavericks of the ECHL, tweeted on Tuesday, Husso was named the runner up for the ECHL Goalie of the Week award. Over the past week, Husso went 2-0 with a 2.13 GAA and a .956 save percentage. That’s an extremely encouraging sign for Husso, who went into a little bit of a slump after first joining the Mavericks. His season numbers with Missouri–a 2-3 record with a 4.03 GAA and .899 save percentage over seven total games played–are much more modest.

Husso began the season as part of a goaltending trio with the AHL Chicago Wolves, rotating starts with Jordan Binnington and Pheonix Copley. He performed solidly during that stint, going 1-1 with a 2.53 GAA and .914 save percentage. But as the Blues sought to create more frequent playing time for the more experienced Copley and Binnington while also trying to keep Husso involved, they sent the rookie to their ECHL affiliate.

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Except in the case of injury, Husso will probably be stuck there for the rest of 2016-17 as the Blues decide which older prospect–Binnington or Husso–that they’d rather move forward with. But in 2017-18, expect to see Husso getting time in the AHL and serving as a legitimate depth option for the NHL club.